The UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Mr. Adama Dieng, on Tuesday welcomed the inclusion in the newly adopted Arms Trade Treaty of a prohibition on the transfer of arms which would be used in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity and certain war crimes.

In a statement made available to PANA in New York, Deng also called on States to act quickly to apply this prohibition, pending its entry into force.

Mr Dieng urged States to take advantage of the provision, which allows States to declare that they will provisionally apply this prohibition pending the entry into force of the treaty.

He said: “The prevention of genocide is too important to postpone to a future date.'

“This new treaty can play an important role in preventing genocide if States act now to provisionally apply the prohibition on transfers of arms which would be used to commit genocide,' Mr Dieng added.

According to him States should give priority to putting these prohibitions in place at the national and international level, saying there can be no good reason to delay making these prohibitions effective.

“Genocide depends in part on the availability of arms and ammunition. The adoption of this treaty represents an important step forward in the struggle to prevent genocide and provides a new legal tool to protect those at risk of their lives, and groups threatened with destruction,'
the UN official concluded.

Article 6(3) of the Treaty stipulates that State Parties “shall not authorize any transfer of conventional arms covered under Article 2 (1) or of items covered under Article 3 or Article 4, if it has knowledge at the time of authorization that the arms or items would be used in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, attacks directed against civilian objects or civilians protected as such, or other war crimes'. (…)